Cutter, particularly adapted for the use in cutting wall coverings



April 27, 1954 SCHIERGHOFER 2,676,405 CUTTER, PARTICULARLY ADAPTED FORTHE USE IN CUTTING WALL COVERINGS Filed July 3, 1951 INVENTOR. FREDSCH/EEGHUFBE ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 27, 1954 CUTTER, PARTICULARLYADAPTED FOR THE USE IN CUTTING WALL COVERIN GS Fred Schierghofer,Tuckahoe, N. Y. Application July 3, 1951, Serial No. 235,049

3 Claims. (01. 30%293) Th present invention relates generally to cuttingdevices, and is particularly directed to wallpaper cutters or trimmersof the kind employin a razor blade or other similar cutting element;

When wall-paper or other sheet covering is aflixedzto a wall it isnecessary to trim the paper or sheet covering along the edges adjacentto the wood work, such as, door frames, window frames, base boards andceiling mouldings, as well as in corners where Walls are joined. Intrimming wall-paper as above, .it is desirable that the cutt ng blade beprevented from cutting into the underlying wall to thereby protect thewall from damage, and also to increase the period during which thecuttin blade retains its sharpness. If penetration of the wall by thecutting blade is to be avoided, the paper, in the immediate area beingcut, must be spaced from the wall so that the blade may cut through thepaper alone. In trimming the edges of wall paper adjacent to wood-workof various kinds or along the corners where other walls meet the wall towhich the paper is being applied, it is desirable that the adjacentwood-work or meeting wall be used as a guide for the cutting bladewithout contacting the'latter, which contact would dull the cuttingedge. Finally, it is desirable that provision be made for adjusting theposition of the cutting blade relative to the guide member so that thelatter may be engaged with th adjacent woodwork or meeting wall ateither side, above or below the cutting blade.

It is therefore an object of the present inven-: tion to provide awall-paper cutting or trimming device for holding a cutting blade in amanner to trim the'edges of wall-paper or the like without penetratingor damaging the underlying wall surface, and which is guided by contactof the device with the adjacent wood-work or meeting wall, with theblade itself being protected against dulling contact with the guidingwood-work or meeting wall.

Another object is to provide a wall-paper cut ting or trimming device inwhichthe cutting blade is supported relative to the wall by a laterallyrounded guide member so that the paper may stand away fromthe'underlying wall in the immediate area being cut, and in whichtheguide member is adjustable relative to the cutting blade so that thelatter may be arranged, close to the wood-work or meeting wall engagedby either side of therounded guide member.

fFinally, an object of this invention is to providea wall-paper cuttingor trimming device of the character described above which is simple andsturdyinconstructio iii) With these and other objects, features and ad-'vantages which will appear as the description proceeds in view, thepresent invention consists in the combination, arrangement and detailsof construction of the several parts of the device hereinafter describedand illustrated in the accomp'anying drawing, and then more particular-1y defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawin wherein the same reference numerals are usedto designate the same parts in the several views:

Figil is a side elevational view of a wall-paper cutting deviceembodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the wallpaper cutting device ofFig. 1;

Fig." 3 is a top plan view partly broken away of the illustrated cuttingdevice;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan'view, partly broken away, of the illustratedwall-paper cutting device;

Fig.15 is a front elevational view, similar to Fig. 2, but showing theguide member in an ad-- J'ustedeposition relative to the cutting bladeto dispose the latter for cutting wall-paper along an adjacent length ofwood-work or a meeting wall;

. Fig. [6 is a front elevational view, similar to Fig. 5,, but showingthe guide member in another adjusted'position relative to, the cuttingblade to dispose the latter for cutting wall-paper along an adjacentlength of wood-work or a meeting wall, shown in section, at one side ofthe device;

Fig. '7 is a front elevational view, similar to Fig. 6,; but showing theguide member in the adjustediposition of Fig. 5 for cutting wall-paperalongja length of wood-work or a meeting wall, shown'in section, at theside of the device opposit to'the location of the wood-work or meetingwall in Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view, looking in the direction of thearrows 8-8 of Fig. 6, and showing the cutting device in cuttingposition.

Referring to the drawing in detail, and initially to Figs. 1 to 4thereof, a cutting device, embodying the present invention, is thereshown and generally indicated by th reference numeral 0 The cuttingdevice I 0 includes a suitably shaped handle H having a cutting-bladeholder 12 formed to removably hold a cutting-blade l3 which ispreferably in the form of a single-edged razor blade. The holder 12forms a channel opening along the bottom edge l4 and at the end adjacentthe handle II to slidably receive the spine or head of the razor bladeI3 with the cutting edge portion of the latter extending through thebottom edge I 4, The holder I 2 is formed so that the edge I 4 thereofis ansularly related to -be swung as in Figs.

the longitudinal axis of the handle II to thereby permit insertion andremoval of the cutting blade through the end of the holder [2 adjacentthe handle without interference from the latter. The angularrelationship of the holder and handle further permits cutting engagementof the blade is with wall-paper while positioning the handle remote fromthe wall to which the paper is applied (Fig. 8) so that the handle maybe conveniently grasped.

The cutting device iii according to this invention further includes anassembly for supporting the device relative to the wall so that thelatter is not penetrated during the cutting or trimming of thewall-paper, and for guiding the cutting device along an adjacent lengthof woodwork or a meeting wall disposed at either side of the cuttingblade. This assembly comprises a circular bushing l i i from which theblade holder i2 extends. The bushing is is formed with a pair of axiallyspaced apart, radial flanges is and ll defining an outwardly opening,annular channel therebetween. A support and guide member It is swingablymounted in the channel defined between the flanges it and i'l, andincludes a split ring-like part is having legs 28 and 2| extending fromthe ends thereof and engaging slidably between the flanges it and il Thelegs 2i! and 24 are bowed outwardly intermediate their lengths (Fig. 2)to conform to the circumferential configuration of the annular channelbetween thefianges 2E and ll so that the support and guide member 58 may5, 6 and 7 relative to the handie 9 i and blade holder l2 but isrestrained from radial displacement relative to the latter by theengagement of the bowed parts of the legs 28 and. M in the annularchannel of the bushing 15. A locking link 22 is formed with loops on itsopposite ends which extend around the iree'end portions of the legs illand El to prevent spreading apart of the latter and disengagement of themember is from the bushing P5.

In order to limit the swinging movement of the support and guide memberi8 relative to the blade holder 82, the flanges it and I1 are pinchedtogether at diametrically opposed locations, as at 23 and 2d (Figs. 3and 4), to restrict the channel formed between the flanges. Thus, whenthemember i8 is swung in one direction, as in Figs. 5 and '7, the leg 2%will be stopped by the restriction 2t and the leg it will be stopped bythe restriction 2-2. Conversely, when the member [8 is swung in theopposite direction, as in Fig. 6, leg 2! is stopped by the restriction23 and leg 26 is stopped by the restriction 2A.

As is apparent from Figs. 1 and 8, the ringlike part 19 of the member itlies in a plane which is angularly disposed relative to the legs 20 and2% and the part is is dimensioned so that it engages the wall-paperbeing cut, and is normal thereto, when the forward end of the cuttingblade lt engages'the paper (Fig. 8).

Referring to Figs. 6, '2 and 8, an appreciation of the manner of usingthe above described device, and its advantages, may be obtained. In Fig.6, the wall-paper has been applied to a wall 26, and it is desired totrim the paper along a length of wood-work or a meeting wall 21 which isto the right of the edge being trimmed as shown. The support and guidemember I8 is positioned for cutting in that situation by swingingrelative to the blade holder l2 in the direction awayirom the guidingwood-work or meeting wall 2'! "so that, with the ring-like part I9engaging both 5 on the end of the handle 1 'tudinal axis of the latter,a cutting blade 4 the wall 26 and the wood-work or meeting wall 21, thecutting blade I3 is disposed close to the latter for trimming the paper25 substantially in the corner.

The engagement of the ring-like part 19 with the paper on the wall 26supports the cutting blade relative to the latter so that the wall willnot be penetrated or damagedduring the trimming' of the paper, whilethesimultaneous engagement of the ring-like part I9 with the woodwork ormeeting wall 2? causes the latter to guide the blade during the cuttingstroke. The ringlike configuration of part 19 permits engagement thereofwith the wall 26 and the meeting wall 21 without forcing the paper inthe immediate area being out against the wall. Thus, the cutting blademay cut through the paper without dulling contact with the underlyingwall or the guiding wood-work or meeting wall (Fig. 8).

When the guiding wood-work or meeting wall is disposed at the other sideof the cutting device, as in Fig. 7, the support and guide member isagain rocked relative to the blade holder, this time toward the right asviewed in Fig. 7, so that the cutting blade is once again positioned totrim the edge of the wall paper 25' along a line in the corner formed bythe'wall 26 and the guiding wood-work or meeting wall 21'.

From the above description it can be seen that the present inventionprovides a cutting device which may be used in trimming the edges ofwallpaper and the like along the top, bottom or either side thereof.

While I have illustrated and described in detail a preferred embodimentof my invention, it

is to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the preciseembodiment and that many changes and modifications, obvious to oneskilled in the art, .may be made therein without departingfrom thespirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A wall-paper cutting device comprising a handle, a blade holderextending from an end of said handle and at an angle to the longiin saidholder with its cutting edge exposed along one side of the latter, asubstantially ring-shaped support/and guide member extending from saidhandle at the end of the latter, adjacent said holder and in thedirection of said exposed cutting edge, said ring-shaped support andguide member extending further from said longitudinal axis of the handlethan said exposed cutting edge of the blade for tangential contact withwall-paper in a corner defined between a wall and a piece of trim alongwhich the paper is to be cut so that the paper may stand away from thecorner and be severed by said blade without requiring contact of thelatter with the wall and trim, means mountingsaid ring-shaped supportand guide member swingably on said handle for lateral displacementrelative to said blade, and means limiting theswinging movement of saidring-shaped member relative to said handle so that said member may bedisposed to position said blade for cutting wall-paper at a cornerdefined by the underlying wall and trim extending from the wall ateither side of the device.

'2. A wall-paper cutting device comprising a handle, a blade holderextending longitudinally from one end of saidhandle, a cutting blade insaid holder with its cutting edge exposed along a longitudinal edge ofthe latter. abushing memher on said one end of said handle having a pairof axially spaced radial flanges defining an annular channeltherebetween, and a guide and support assembly including a split,substantially ring-shaped support and guide member having substantiallyparallel legs extending from the ends thereof and slidably through saidannular channel of the bushing member at diametrically opposed portionsof the latter so that said ringshaped member may be rocked laterallyrelative to said handle and means holding said legs together within saidchannel.

3. A wall-paper cutting device as set forth in claim 2, includingpinched together portions on said flanges at diametrically opposedlocations between said legs so that the rocking movement of saidring-shaped member is limited in both directions by engagement of saidlegs with said pinched together portions of the flanges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,863,153 Christopherson June 14, 1932 2,437,896 Rutledge Mar.16, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 327,082 Great Britain Mar.27, 1930

